THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 20 APRIL 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977411
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: April 20, 1970

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The President's Daily Brief
20 April 1970
46
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
20 April 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Reports of active Communist military elements in
several eastern Cambodian provinces are a matter of
increasing concern in Phnom Penh. (Page 1)
In Laos, the Communists moved additional reinforce-
ments into the Long Tieng area over the weekend.
(Page 3)
Reports of atrocities against Vietnamese in Cambodia
have further complicated President Thieu's problems
with students and Buddhists in Saigon. (Page 4)
Moscow and Peking have had their most biting exchange
of polemics since the Peking talks began. (Page 5)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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ILLEGIB
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CAMBODIA: Current Situation
THAILAND
ATIE
VC attack
outpost:
X
df.Kratie
-chhlon9
x"--Fighting
Cambodians
pull back
PREY V ENG
Cambodian
battalion
wiped Out
Surrounded
by VC
Cham ba
VC aet
eTIL
Taker
? Svay
Rieng
K AM POT
98249 4-70 CIA
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CAMBODIA
Fragmentary reports indicate that Viet
Cong, North Vietnamese, and indigenous
Communist elements have been active in al--
-
most every province of eastern Cambodia
during the past several days. For the
most part, these actions appear to be part
of the continuing effort to protect and
expand Communist bases along the border.
There are fresh signs, however, of in-
creased Communist activity farther west-
ward, well away from the border bases.
These may be a precursor of a new effort
to keep Cambodian security forces tied
down to defensive positions in the inte-
rior.
The heaviest action was located in Kandal and
Takeo provinces south of Phnom Penh. According to .
Cambodian commanders, an army battalion guarding a
Mekong River post was "annihilated" only 20 miles
south of the capital. We cannot confirm this en-
gagement but if true it is the closest probe to
Phnom Penh since the Communist offensive began.
Farther south, the Communists on 18 April once. again
raided the provincial capital of Takeo, knocking out
a bridge and cutting the rail line that runs from
the town down toward Kompong Som (formerly Sihanouk-
ville).
Renewed fighting was also reported in Svay
Rieng Province, where South Vietnamese forces have
been raiding Communist bases on Cambodian soil al-
most daily. The Cambodian commander in the area
has told South Vietnamese officers that the Commu-
nists are moving supplies and base facilities deeper
into Cambodia. He fears that they will soon attack
Svay Rieng town and has asked for additional South
Vietnamese ground and air attacks. He claimed that
he was acting with the full authority of leaders in
Phnom Penh.
To the north, Communist penetrations as far
west as the Mekong River have been reported. These
actions appear to involve only small Communist p1e-
ments,
(continued)
1
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The military developments of the past several
-days apparently have greatly alarmed the diplomatic
community in the capital.
The ranking French military adviser in Cam-
bodia, General Vieil, has told Charge Rives that he
believed an all-out Communist offensive would occur
within a month.
For their part, the Cambodian leaders on 17
April issued an obscurely worded directive to all
units, asking them to prepare for "total war," and
begin organizing "partisan" bands. Cambodian stra-
tegic thinking has long postulated a reversion to
guerrilla war in the face of a Vietnamese attack.
In another sign that the leaders in Phnom Penh are
feeling the heat0
to arrange for the
deployment of South Vietnamese irregular forces into
Takeo Province.
2
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LAOS: Current Situation
AREA OF
MAIN MAP
Vientiane
4 I ieng
''i)hou ifang JARR
Khoon
NVA troopoi;
buildup ?
\
Go er,nment Meets,
stiffy resistance Via Tam
Sam eBleung
\Thorige
7
P /4INE:
DES
*Xi-en
an Ban ?
Khouang
/
Xieng
\
1
98251 4-70 CIA
3.0 20 miles
? 10 20 Kilometers
? Goifernment-held location
? Cbmmunist-held location
,e?
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LAOS
There was little change in the situation around
Long Tieng over the weekend, although the Communists
did move in additional reinforcements. Another bat-
talion-level radio terminal associated with the North
Vietnamese 312th Division was identified, bringing to
three the number of terminals that have moved south
of the Plaine in the last week. Government forces
operating out of Tha Tam Bleung are running into
stiffer enemy resistance.
Despite these further signs of a possible
renewed enemy push in the weeks to come,
the Communists do not seem ready yet to
mount a major drive against Long Tieng.
Some of the fresh units are coming in to
replace rather than augment troops of the
316th Division, which has carried the
burden of the fighting in the Long Tieng
area. Intercepts indicate that the enemy's
main concerns right now are to bring in
additional supplies and to evacuate the
wounded.
3
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SOUTH VIETNAM
Pressures are building up on the Thieu govern-
ment to do something about the anti-Vietnamese po-
grom in Cambodia. Students and Buddhists, already
disaffected with the government, took to the streets
over the weekend protesting the atrocities and de-
manding that action be taken to redress the situa-
tion. Local political leaders and trade unionists
joined them yesterday for memorial services held at
the An Quang Pagoda, long a center for antigovern-
ment activity. The oppositionist National Salvation
Front released a communiqug signed by nearly 100
politicians appealing for UN intervention.
The Thieu government clearly recognizes
the need for action, but at the same time
it has been anxious not to roil the Cam-
bodians to the point where prospects for
improved relations might be jeopardized.
So far the middle course it has tried to
steer has not been very productive.
The Cambodians have not yet responded to
a South Vietnamese offer to send an offi-
cial delegation to arrange for repatria-
tion of Vietnamese refugees.
The government may soon have to do better,
or be confronted with more serious opposi-
tion than anything it has faced in recent
months. This will be especially so if the
students and allied dissidents choose to
use this emotional issue as their princi-
pal weapon against Thieu.
4
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COMMUNIST CHINA - USSR
The deep-seated disagreements between Peking
and Moscow have bubbled to the surface on the eve
of the Lenin centenary celebrations. In a lengthy
commentary on 17 April, the Chinese blasted the
Brezhnev leadership as "fools" on the "brink of
their downfall," and ridiculed the ideological
theses published last December in commemoration of
the Lenin centennial
This is the strongest Chinese indictment
of the Soviet leadership since the Peking
talks began. In addition to discrediting
the Soviet anniversary celebrations, the
Chinese probably launched this bitter per-
sonaZ attack in reply to Brezhnev's strong
public charge on 14 April that Chinese
"provocations" were jeopardizing progress
in the Peking talks.
The Chinese commentary may also be related
to Sino-Soviet maneuvering on the exchange
of ambassadors. By attacking the ideolog-
ical theses at this time, Peking may be
indirectly voicing objection to the new
Soviet ambassador-designate to Peking,
Vladimir Stepakov. As former head of the
Soviet Propaganda Department, Stepakov
probably shared responsibility for the
publication of the theses.
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Soviet Bear 0 Naval Reconnaissance Aircraft
982504-70 CIA
Unrefueled range - 9250 nm
Mission radius - 4600 nm
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NOTES
USSR: Two Bear D aircraft--the naval recon-
naissance version of the TU-95 heavy bomber--landed
in Havana, Cuba,
Their mission probably was to provide reconnaissance
support for units participating in the worldwide
Soviet naval exercise "Okean."
Hungary: The Hungarian celebrations of the
Lenin centennial are proceeding according to plan
despite earlier indications--reported in The Presi-
dent's Daily Brief of 15 April--that they were to
be canceled. It now appears that the Hungarians
misrepresented the withdrawal. of US Ambassador Pu-
hangs invitation as cancellation of the events;
Budapest now claims that the diplomatic corps is
being excluded from the events because they are
party and not government celebrations. The Bulgar-
ians have ignored this distinction, however, and
invited the US Ambassador to attend yesterday's
festivities in Sofia.
Jordan: Public security officials figured
largeri-TH-the cabinet reshuffle announced yester-
day by King Husayn. The new deputy premier, defense
minister, and director of security may have earned
their promotion during the hard-nosed negotiations
in the recent settlement with the fedayeen. The
minister of interior and the director of security
were removed, perhaps as scapegoats for the attacks
on the US Embassy last week.
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Top Secret
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